This year, we are fortunate to see what the NHL and most of its fans dreamed of as the playoffs wore on, a Red Wings/Penguins matchup in the Cup finals.
Not only does it pair the most noted team in the league of the past 15 years, it also ices the youth movement of the NHL in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Wings and Pens are on a collision course in what promises to be a fantastic Stanley Cup Finals Matchup.
Not only are the two most storied teams in this years playoffs matching up, the two best teams are also paired. It is one of those seemingly rare years in the NHL where a mediocre team catches fire and reaches the finals, despite having a low seed.
Sure, we almost saw it with both Philly and Dallas, but a President’s Trophy winning Wings and the Penguins who finished second in total points in the east, despite playing a quarter of the season without Sid the Kid.
Both of these teams have been flat out rolling this playoff season, the Penguins going 12-2 in the East while the Wings paraded through the west while only dropping four contests themselves.
Who really is the better team in this series? Tough to say seeing the two are nearly mirror images of how they are put together.
Powerful offenses. You want it? You got it. No years in recent memory have brought as many such smooth goal scorers to the Cup finals as this series does.
Datsyuk, Zetteberg, and Franzen (when he plays) amongst other lethal point scorers for the Wings’ matchup with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Staal, and Hossa for Pittsburgh.
Good luck defenses and goaltenders. These offenses will be primed to go. Personally, I feel the Penguins offense when it is clicking is the scariest in the NHL, especially on special teams, give them the edge here.
Good luck defenses are basically what I can say about this series. Obviously, both are capable of shutting teams down but that is not what is expected coming into this series.
Both teams are allowing right at 1.75 goals or so entering the Cup finals. Credit both defenses with these numbers, as well as great production from both Osgood and Fleury in net.
As well as these have played, don't expect either GAA to stay that low. The more experience the marier. However, you can give Detroit the edge in this department.
Whether it is with Niklas Lidstrom or Chris Chelios, this team has been there plenty before compared to Pittsburgh. Personally, I give the edge defensively to the Wings.
In net, you have two different pasts but basically the same stories. Chris Osgood has been more battle tested in his career in the NHL Playoffs than Marc-Andre Fleury, but Fleury enters allowing less goals a game than Osgood.
Hot goaltending can obviously take a team far, but in this series, the matchup is very even.
I do not expect to see either Fleury or Osgood out perform the other by enough or regularly enough this series to wind up being the be-all, end-all difference. On the likelihood of getting on a hot streak, I like Fleury.
However, if I am basing it on consistency and the past, I would take Osgood. At the end of the day, it’s basically a wash in this department, but I do expect to see both struggles at times in this series.
So far, we have it basically right down the middle with the Pens and Wings going 1-1-1 in the departments we talked about.
One that I am yet to mention is home ice advantage. Both teams have played great in their home buildings this year and more specifically this postseason.
The Penguins are unbeaten at home all postseason while the Wings have only dropped one contest, game five to Dallas.
Can the Penguins steal a game on the road? This is more likely than seeing the Wings win in the Igloo.
A few final questions for the finals...
-Can Tomas Holdstrom get in the head of the Penguins like he has been able to the Stars and others?
It should be interesting to see because he does it nearly as well as anyone to anyone. If the Penguins could escape the same game plan from Sean Avery as well as they did, I feel they will do the same here.
-Will the inexperience of playing in the finals play into the Wings hand?
Only time will tell. As much as the Penguins team has grown up and matured this season, it is tough to see how a team will react to playing in the majority of its rosters first finals.
I have doubts you will see the Penguins come out and lay an egg. However, seeing them play outside them is doubtful as well.
I have a strange feeling that Detroit will get at least one win in this series because of an immature mistake or two made by the Penguins.
-Who is the single biggest difference maker in this series?
Even as dangerous as the Penguins’ offense is with Crosby and Malkin, if I can have one player in this series, I would take Niklas Lidstrom.
Leadership and game smarts is something you can't pay enough for this time of year and, he supplies both more than anyone else in the league, especially for a defense that is going to need help in a high scoring series.
-Predictions:
Wings jump up early in the series at home. The Pens fight back to even it at two games a piece. The Wings jump back in front at the Joe to go up 3-2 before the Pens steal the series, winning games six and seven.
Sid the Kid takes home the Conn Smythe
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